Summer

Greetings!

Here's a brief update on what's been happening that past couple of months. We've had a few of our foster babies leave us to be with their 'forever families'. They are missed as well as a couple of nannies who also returned back to N. America. Here are a few random pics.

Nanny Diana with her little foster girl.

Hannah doing 'Sawadii', the Thai greeting.

Fun in the sun.

Party at the Hochstetler residence.

Learning to walk.

I had to post this pic to give you an idea of the necessity of another vehicle for our ministry.
This is not in any way exaggerated. On top of the safety issue, the vehicles are beaters, which means at least one of the 2 station wagons is in the shop at any given time.

Thanks for your prayers for our ministry!

'til next time, Branden
Director of Chara Ministries

Pool Party!

One of Chara's foster guys just had his 1st birthday!
His nanny threw him a pool party! Here's the proof.

YUMMY!

Fun in the sun.
Water feels wonderful this time of the year!
This week it's been in the 100's. With humidity.
Riding the moped feels like you're standing in front of a Salamander heater.
Fingers and toes actually hurt when riding any distance.

Here are some random Chara kids pics...

Greetings

Greetings from cozy Southeast Asia! As I sip my coffee from a red and black hand made mug, I realize it has been months since I've updated this site. Back then, I had the time and energy to keep 2 blogs updated simultaneously; however responsibilities and other interests have prioritized my time.
I am debating whether to keep this one up and running. Both blogger and xanga have their pros and cons. I may keep this one for Chara updates only and have our xanga for family updates.

If that is the case, then I have some Chara news to post! Chara has just acquired 2 new babies, a boy and a girl. They arrived from Bangkok just 2 weeks ago. They come from the Emergency Home, which is where mothers go before the birth of their baby and also to recover from the birth. While they are at the home, they make their decision whether or not to keep their child. These were the 2 who were brought here to Chara. There are still many who are awaiting adoption that need foster care.

I hope you all had a blessed Easter! I'll try to be more faithful in keeping you informed of happenings here at Chara.

Sad news

A couple of weeks ago, dear little Isaiah passed away. They said it was from respiratory failure. Poor guy's lungs just gave out from all his bouts with pneumonia.
Praise God he's in a better place now with no health issues!
Here's an exerpt from the Horning6 blog...

The voice on the other end of the phone said "Isaiah passed away this morning" He had just celebrated his 1st birthday on Monday. He was doing so well. They say he died from respitory failure. Our human minds can not understand but we are comforted with the knowledge that he has a brand new body and is walking and playing on streets of gold. Isaiah, we only got to love you for a short while but we miss you for a long time!

...we attended Isaiah's funeral, said one final goodbye. His final resting place is in the jungle of Thailand beside the banana and bamboo trees. It seemed fitting for this little boy, who lived in a body that could not respond to his will, to rest on the side of the mountain which he would have never been able to run and play on. It was hard to see that little casket being lowered into the ground and then watch as they shoveled the dirt on top.

Swimming vid

Isaiah Update

Isaiah is improving! Check it out! PTL for visible growth!

Chara addition

Well finally I'm getting a pic of our latest addition to Chara.

She's about 4 months old and is a little butterball!


This is Isaiah. He's in our care at GTO while his adoptive
parents prepare to come.
His story is a sad one.
He's had a rough start in his young life of 9 months.
He is one of the many victims of the tsunami.
He was in 2 Bangkok orphanages for a total of 5 months.
His treatment at the most recent one is horrifying.
For the children's baths, they would line them up on
a cement floor and hose them down.
For most of his day, he shared a standard sized hospital bed with 11 other children.
He was given muscle relaxants to keep him from crying.
At the state-run orphanage,
he was fed only 1.5 ounces every 4 hours, nothing at night.
He lost 4lbs. in the few months he was at the orphanage.
He's lost most of his sucking reflexes,
and must be patiently bottle/sippy cup fed.
He's able to take about 3 swallows,
then must rest, as his muscles are so weak.
His current weight is less than 9lbs.

Please pray for Isaiah, that he would continue to gain weight and develop.
Pray for his adoptive family too as they begin to shower him with love, nourishment,
and touch he so desperately needs.
Our prayer is that his life would testify this...
but for the grace of God.

Our boys

Wow, it's been forever since we've updated! It seems our Xanga has taken priority lately. Mucho apologies! Our little Nicky continues to grow. He's 2 months old, and is really putting on the pounds! Bailey is the typical big brother. He loves to hold him, and gets concerned when Nicky rejects his offering of the pacifier. Well, enough blabbing, here's a couple of pics...

Our smiley little guy.

After a hard day of play, Bailey is worn out!

The comforting brother.

In Chara news, we just took delivery on our 15th foster baby!
I'll try to get some pics up of her.
Well, that's all for now. Hopefully it won't
be so long till next time!

Chara Nannies

Here's the latest picture of our nannies with their foster children.
We now have 14 babies and 8 nannies. Go here for a more comprehensive
description of who Chara Ministries is.

Botanical Gardens

Saturday we went to a botanical garden about 15 minutes from our place. Acres and acres of never-ending manicured trees, shrubs, fountains, and greenhouses. They even had a mini-zoo! We took a picnic lunch, and ate it on the trolley as we toured the gardens. Fun times!

Where's Waldo?

One cool dude!
There were topiaries of all kinds of animals throughout the gardens:
giraffes, birds, monkeys, deer, etc.
Here are some elephants.

Announcing the arrival of...
Nicholas Grant

Born: July 3, 2006
1:40 p.m.
Weight: 6 lb., 14 oz.
Length: 20 in.

Father's Day

On Sunday we went to the pool for a Father's Day outing. There is a nice kiddie pool that Bailey can tsuddle(Pa. dutch for whatever kids do in the pool) around in.

One of the nannies bought a puppy at the market last week for $1. A screaming deal, considering the rare Lab/Cocker/Poodle/German Bernard pedigree. We took Bailey over there to see it. He loved playing with it! The poor dog barely gets any rest from the kids playing with him! We thought about getting a puppy for Bailey, then decided against it. Too much of a bother considering the upcoming birth of son #2 and furlough this fall. Also, too many fleas and diseases, let alone offspring from mangy mates. No thanks...

It's been awhile since I've updated so I thought
I'd throw a couple random
pics on here. A couple of weeks ago
Bailey fell against the rail of the bunk
bed and cracked his eyebrow.
Sorry, no gory shots available. Bailey is 16 months old already!

My lovely pregnant wife!
Only 4 weeks left till the birth!

Random pics

It came from up there...

A scenic overlook on our guys' bike trip.

Bailey loves moped rides around our village!

Any questions?

My desire is to keep this site as 'family friendly' as possible. However, I just had to post this picture that we took on our trip to the Burma border yesterday! We've been living here for about a year and a half and I still am awed at some of the things I see!

During the 3-day Songkron festival, the drivers remove the tops of their tuk-tuks. This allows the passengers to receive the maximum wetness bestowed upon them by others.